Cyberbullying Legislation Update at SPC

ST. PHILIP'S COLLEGE HOSTS CYBERBULLYING LEGISLATION UPDATE FOR UNITED WAY PARENT VOLUNTEERS

A key proponent of state legislation that addresses cyberbullying recently addressed a room full of United Way of San Antonio parent volunteers who listened intensively Feb. 28 in one of the conference centers of St. Philip's College in the city's Denver Heights neighborhood.

According to a United Way web posting (Family School Community Partnership Parent Symposium), Texas State Senator José Menéndez recently joined parent volunteers at the Family School Community Partnership’s 3rd Annual Parent Symposium themed Creating Change for a Thriving Community. The symposium was an initiative of United Way’s Successful Students Impact Council.

As sponsor of David’s Law, Senator Menendez served as the keynote speaker addressing ways to protect youth from the destructive effects of cyberbullying.

The senator is the second key proponent of the legislation to address guests at the college. St. Philp’s College completed its first Gencyber Camp season in June of 2017. During the summer cybersecurity camp with National Security Agency-approved curriculum for both middle-to-high school students and teachers, all camp attendees learned about cyberbullying. When Texas Gov. Greg Abbott signed Texas State Bill 179 commonly known as David's Law into law June 9---72 hours before the opening of the camp---camp faculty invited a guest speaker who had become a subject matter expert in cyberbully prevention over the last 18 months. David's Law is named in honor of David Molak, a 16-year-old from Alamo Heights who took his own life after encountering extensive cyber-assisted bullying in January of 2016, and addressed a need for Texas laws to keep pace with evolving technology. The bill requires public schools to establish methods for students to anonymously report cyberbullying. School administrators would have 24 hours to report the bullying to the victim’s parents, followed by a report to the bully’s parents. Matthew Molack http://www.davidslegacy.org/, father of David Molack, visited with camp attendees to share his experience and news about one of the most topical cybersecurity-related bills of 2017.

In an aspiration to end cyberbullying through partnerships with school districts, law enforcement and teens, St. Philip’s College visit was one of the first in foundation and Malak parent efforts to promote awareness of the law. Molak’s spouse will be one of the keynote speaker during a cybersecurity conference organized by the college on March 8.